


Flatmates

by Anna_Blossom



Series: We're All Civilians Now [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Widowmaker and Reaper share an apartment, slightly OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:03:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7276459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anna_Blossom/pseuds/Anna_Blossom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They laid there like that for a long while, Gabriel in his tank top and boxers and Amélie in that skimpy dress her work required her to wear, silence enveloping the room, occasionally broken by the sound of Amélie’s pet tarantulas tapping against their glass cage.</p><p>“Merci,” Amélie mumbled after a few minutes, a grateful tone in her voice Gabriel has only heard a few times in the past.</p><p>“You’d do the same for me,” was all he said before getting up and going back to his room.</p><p>(the one where Gabriel and Amélie share friendship and an apartment)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flatmates

_“What do you want?”_

_“You are looking for a flatmate, oui?”_

_“Yeah, you applying?”_

_“Why else would I be here?”_

_“Well, come in then, miss…?”_

_"Lacroix. Amélie Lacroix.”_

 

“Amélie,” Gabriel snarled, his muscular form clad in nothing but a pair of black boxers with little white skulls on them as he threw open the door to her room. Amélie, who was tuning her violin, gave him an icy glare from where she was sitting on her bed.

“What do you want, _imbecile_?”

Gabriel simply glared back and held out an empty plate with smears of chocolate frosting and crumbs left on it. “You ate the last slice!”

The Frenchwoman cast him a blank look, before returning to tuning her violin. Amélie heard a warning growl come from the man, before she let out a small breath, which, for a normal person, was equivalent to an exasperated sigh.

“I’ve eaten your food without permission before. Why is this one so different? You don’t even like sweets,” she said, voice tinged with annoyance, but there was also some curiosity in it. When Gabriel simply growled again, one of Amélie’s eyebrows shot up. She looked up from the instrument on her lap and narrowed her eyes at Gabriel, who was subtly averting his gaze. The man was being defensive for some reason. He only ever got like that when someone insulted his family, or Jack—

Ah.

“Did your boyfriend make this for you?”

“He’s _not_ my boyfriend,” Gabriel snarled in response, and Amélie lips twitched into a smirk as she thought ‘not yet’.

“So he did make it for you. How sweet of ‘im,” she crooned mockingly. “Were you saving the last slice for a special occasion?” She asked. He gave her one last glare before retreating out of her room.

“Don’t worry, _mon ami_ ,” she called out after him, standing up and walking to her door, watching him stomp his way down the hall. “I’m sure he’ll be more than willing to make you more!”

Gabriel flipped her off, and Amélie laughed, before taking out her phone and sending one Jack Morrison a text.

(Two days later, Jack came by to drop off another chocolate cake and this time, Amélie left Gabriel the last slice.)

_“Nice to meet you.”_

_“And you are?”_

_“Name’s Gabriel Reyes.”_

“Reyes! _Abre la puerta, cabrón!_ ”

Amélie turned off the showerhead, cursing whoever it was banging on the apartment door like a maniac and cursing Gabriel. She wrapped a towel around her body, tried to wring out as much water out of her hair as she can, before leaving the bathroom.

Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance as the man outside did another loud series of knocks. She opened the door, abruptly cutting off the man before he could yell for Gabriel again. The stranger was taken aback, clearly not expecting the door to open so suddenly and was about to say something, but when he saw her, he stopped. A low chuckle escaped his lips.

“Mornin’, darlin’,” the man drawled out, tipping his hat. “Name’s McCree, but you can call me Jesse. I gotta say, Reyes got himself a real nice catch,” he added, giving her a once over. Surprisingly, he wasn’t doing it in a sleazy manner like her customers at Talon, but rather, he was doing it in such a way that she didn’t even feel mildly disgusted. He was acting rather gentlemanly, despite the fact that she was covered with nothing but a towel.

But, Amélie noted with disinterest, his fashion sense, on the other hand, was appalling. Flannel shirt, worn jeans, leather boots and a stupid hat. Either this man was a cowboy fanatic or simply crazy.

“Gabriel is not ‘ere,” she told him coldly. “And I am not ‘is ‘catch’ either.”

Jesse raised his brow, tilting his head in slight confusion. “Then what’s a filly like you doing showerin’ in his apartment?”

Amélie looked at him with disbelief. _Filly_? As if he couldn’t get any more stereotypical. The only thing he needed to do now was take out a cigar or start chewing on the end of a straw. It took her a second to realize she hadn’t answered his question yet. “We share rent.”

“I see,” Jesse laughed. “’Bout time he got rid of that _verga_. Forgive me for misunderstandin’ the situation then, darlin’.”

“Do not call me that,” she said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have something to do.”

“Oh, right. Sorry ‘bout disturbin’ your bath, miss,” he flashed her a lazy smile. “I’ll come back some other time then. Mighty sorry for botherin’ you.” He turned around about to walk away, when Amélie sighed to herself.

“ _Attendez,_ ” she called out to him, and he stopped.

“You can wait for ‘im here, if you want.”

He grinned at her, walking back. “Much obliged, miss.” Amélie nodded, before gesturing for him to come inside. “I gotta say though, Reyes has got a fine taste in flatmates.”

“Hm?”

“Really,” he drawled. “I should know, miss. I was one of them _way_ back, and let me tell you, I’ve got no shortage of embarrassing stories to share ‘bout señor Hot Topic.”

(And that was how Gabriel found them an hour later, the two of them sitting on the couch, Jesse sharing every embarrassing detail he knew about the Latino while Amélie listened with a smirk, the same smirk that grew into a grin the moment she saw him walk through the door. Gabriel groaned, knowing that she was going to blackmail him into doing her share of work around the apartment.)

_“So, Amélie, why you looking for a flat?”_

_“That is none of your business.”_

_“Alright then.”_

_“…”_

_“…”_

_“But if you must know, I just had a divorce.”_

_“… I’m sorry?”_

_“Don’t be.”_

 

There was a sound of a door opening and being slammed closed, followed by the sound of heels clicking against the floor. Then, the sound of another door being wrenched open before it was slammed shut again.

Gabriel sat up on his bed, groaning, muttering under his breath about how it was too early for this. A glance at the clock in his room told him it was around four o’clock in the morning. Amélie must’ve just arrived from her shift as a bartender at some nightclub called Talon.

Gabriel got up, yawning as he exited his room wearing nothing but his tank top and boxers, and rapped his knuckles against Amélie’s door twice. He didn’t have to wait long before a snappish ‘ _allez-vous en!_ ’ came from inside the room.

“You alright?”

“…”

“Obviously not,” Gabriel murmured quietly. He waited a few more moments, before the door opened and he was faced with a fuming Frenchwoman, cold fury coloring her features, still dressed for work. She stepped aside to let him in.

Gabriel sat down on her bed, crossing his arms. “So?”

“Gérard,” she hissed angrily.

He nodded in understanding. While Amélie was easily annoyed by a lot of stuff, few things actually made her feel angry, her ex-husband being one of them. He didn’t know the details about what happened between the two nor did he care. It wasn’t his business so he never bothered to ask.

“To think he ‘ad the nerve to show ‘is face at Talon,” Amélie paced, the heels of her leather boots indenting her carpeted floor some, her accent growing thicker. “Who does ‘e think ‘e is?! ‘ _Je t’aime, ma fleur,_ ’ _dit-il._ ‘ _Reviens me voir!_ ’”

They continued like that for a few more minutes, with Amélie ranting and Gabriel listening quietly, despite not understanding a lick of French. Soon, Amélie relaxed and stopped pacing, face returning to its usual unreadable state. She sat down next to Gabriel, before lying down and gesturing for Gabriel to do so as well. He did, and they laid there like that for a long while, him in his tank top and boxers and Amélie in that skimpy dress her work required her to wear, silence enveloping the room, occasionally broken by the sound of Amélie’s pet tarantulas tapping against their glass cage.

“ _Merci_ ,” Amélie mumbled after a few minutes, a grateful tone in her voice Gabriel has only heard a few times in the past.

“You’d do the same for me,” was all he said before getting up and going back to his room.

(A week later, after he had a serious fight with his parents, she did.)

 

_“Anyway, this is a nice flat. Why, exactly, did your last roommate leave?”_

_“He was a homophobic asshole.”_

_“I see.”_

_“You homophobic?”_

_“Far from it.”_

 

There were exactly three knocks on the door, before a cheery voice called out, “Pizza delivery!”

Amélie put her movie on pause and got up from the couch, making her way to the door. When she opened it, she was greeted by a woman with spiky brown hair and freckles. What really stood out the most, however, was the woman’s beaming smile, which rendered Amélie speechless.

“Cheers, luv,” the brunette said, giving her a two fingered salute, one hand holding a pizza box. “Cavalry Pizza’s here! You ordered a small pepperoni pizza with extra cheese?” Amélie nodded, still captivated by the woman before her, who suddenly frowned and tilted her head. “Are you alright, luv?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I mean, you’re looking a little pale there,” the brunette pointed out. “Almost blue, really.”

“Oh,” Amélie blinked. “It’s nothing. Just a skin condition,” she answered, sounding a little colder than she intended. But the brunette just nodded in response, seemingly not noticing.

“Alright then,” the woman said, smile returning. She held out the pizza. “That’ll be $12.60.”

Amélie nodded, taking the pizza and giving her a twenty dollar bill. She watched as the woman took the bill. The brunette was about to give Amélie her change when the Frenchwoman shook her head.

“That’s your tip,” she said, dispelling the confused look on the woman’s face, replacing it with another smile.

“Thanks, luv! Enjoy your pizza!” She gave her another salute before leaving, humming cheerfully all the while. Amélie stayed in the doorway, watching her until she entered the elevator at the end of the hallway. Only when the mystery woman disappeared from her line of sight did she close the door, pizza box still in hand.

She turned around, almost jumping out of her skin when she saw Gabriel standing there, arms crossed with a smirk on his face. She recovered from her surprise immediately, throwing him one of her trademark glares, and his smirk grew into a knowing grin.

“Don’t,” she warned as she shoved the pizza box into his chest, before walking past him.

“You didn’t even get her name, did you?” He asked, amusement coloring his voice.

“ _Tais-toi!"_

Gabriel laughed.

(He ordered another pizza the next day, locking himself in his room so that Amélie had no choice but to answer the door, and now he knows that the brunette’s name was Lena and that she was more than happy to go on a date with Amélie.)

 

_“Good. Anything else you wanna ask me or want me to know me?”_

_“Are you arachnophobic?”_

_“What?”_

_“I keep spiders as pets.”_

_“… No, I’m not. Can I ask why?”_

_“Why I keep spiders as pets? Because I like them.”_

 

“ _Mierda!_ ”

Amélie entered their apartment’s kitchen slash dining area, manicured brow going up when she saw Gabriel sucking on his pointer finger, a half-peeled apple and a knife sitting on the counter in front of him.

“Did you cut yourself?”

“Yeah,” he grunted, going to the sink to wash the wound and the knife he was using. He turned around, about to go look for a band aid when he saw Amélie walking towards him, already holding one. She silently held out her hand, and Gabriel blinked. “I can do it myself, you know that?”

Amélie rolled her eyes, taking his left hand. Gabriel watched as she inspected the cut before putting the band aid on it. A band aid which, upon closer inspection, was black and had a pink skull pattern.

Gabriel gave her an incredulous look. “Seriously? Where the hell did you even get this?”

“Discount at the supermarket,” she replied offhandedly. “It’s my last one so don’t take it off,” she added, before grabbing the knife and the apple, slicing it in half and taking the peeled portion. Gabriel’s eyes followed her back as she left the room, his gaze on her spider tattoo visible through her thin white shirt, before his gaze fell back onto the band aid. Then he shrugged, grabbing the half of the apple Amélie left, and finished peeling it.

(A few days later, Amélie found a small box of band aids on the kitchen counter, complete with a cutesy purple spider pattern, and she couldn’t stop the small laugh that escaped her lips.)

 

_“Well then, Amélie, it’s been a real nice talking to you but I’ve gotta go to work.”_

_“Very well. When can I start moving in?”_

_“You can start tomorrow afternoon. I’m gonna be out all morning. That work for you?”_

_“Trés bien. Then, I shall take my leave now.”_

_“Yeah. See you, I guess.”_

“Yeah, I’ll see you there,” Gabriel said, as he talked to Jack, phone pinned between his ear and his shoulder as he chopped onions on the kitchen counter, Amélie browsing a fashion magazine on the table behind him. “Let the ape know I’ll be there.” Gabriel let out a laugh, putting down the knife to hold the phone properly. “You know Winston looks like an ape, Jack. Stop denying it.”

Amélie paused, glancing up at his fond tone. Ever since Gabriel went out with Jack a few days ago to hang out, she’d noticed something was different about the Latino. She actually caught him _humming_ in the shower this morning. Not only that, he actually got up early to cook breakfast. Generally, that task was up to Amélie because even with her working until the early morning, she usually needed only a few hours of sleep. The only instances Gabriel bothered to cook breakfast were when she wasn’t around to do it for him, or when he was in a good mood.

Evidently, he was in an _extremely_ good mood. Amélie observed him converse with Jack, noticing him laugh more than he normally did. Was there a new development she hadn’t been made aware of?

“Alright. Try not to be late this time, _sol_.”

Amélie blinked once, before it dawned on her, the reason why Gabriel had been acting like a giddy fool for the past few days. She smiled to herself.

“Yeah. Bye, Jack,” Gabriel said. “ _Te amo_ ,” he added, his grin growing as he listened to what Amélie assumed was Jack sputtering on the other end, before hanging up.

“Ugh.”

Gabriel turned around to face Amélie. “What?”

“And you were complaining about me and Lena.”

“ _Cállate_ ,” he replied, the faintest hint of embarrassment in his gruff voice, turning around again to resume cooking. Amélie smirked, before returning to her magazine. There was a peaceful quiet in their apartment, both of them finding comfort and companionship in the other’s presence.

(“So when’s the wedding? I’d like to practice playing ‘The Wedding March’ on my violin at least three weeks earlier,” Amélie asked, and Gabriel chucked a garlic clove at her. She laughed, and he gave her the finger.)

**Author's Note:**

> Translations (helpfully provided by google translate):
> 
> Abre la puerta, cabrón! - Open the door, asshole!  
> verga - dick  
> attendez - wait  
> allez-vous en! - go away!  
> ‘Je t’aime, ma fleur,’ dit-il. ‘Reviens me voir! - 'I love you, my flower,' he said. 'Come back!'  
> merci - thank you  
> Tais-toi! - Shut up!  
> Cállate - Hush
> 
> I saw this picture of skull patterned band aids online, and I got inspired. Then it just kept growing. Hope the format wasn't too confusing? Also, the former homophobic asshole flatmate was not McCree, just to clarify. And it's slightly OOC because it's a modern AU, so please don't be too nitpicky about the characterization. I just needed Widowmaker and Reaper to be happy and live in a world where nothing's wrong.
> 
> Soooo, thanks for reading. Constructive criticism is appreciated :)
> 
> EDIT: Fixed the French. Thank you so much to Kangoo and Lyn for providing some insight on that. And thank you to everyone who left a kudos because I was honestly not expecting this much. Really makes my day :D


End file.
